Yesterday we noted that Ulf Hjertström, the sexagenarian Swede who survived a 67-day kidnapping ordeal in Baghdad, reportedly was paying professional bounty hunters a handsome fee to track down his erstwhile captors. Expressen, a Swedish tabloid, picked up the story and got in touch with Hjertström to get the lowdown.

Hjertström, an oil broker whose career took him to Iraq 25 years ago, makes no bones about the decision to exact revenge on his abductors. Ive lived [in Iraq] for a long time. This is how things are done there. Its nothing new to me, he says.

Hearty Hjertström doesnt want to go into detail about the bounty hunters, but assures Expressen that they are the best money can buy.

Theyre not twiddling their thumbs, declares Hjertström, revealing that he has received confirmation that two of [the kidnappers] have already been taken care of. When asked to elaborate on the fate of the purportedly captured men, the Swede says he hasnt inquired but has his suspicions.

Many in Sweden have expressed shock and dismay at Hjertströms eye-for-an-eye approach. But the plucky pensioner claims that revenge is not his primary motive. I just want the people of Baghdad to feel safe on the streets.

Theyre not twiddling their thumbs, declares Hjertström, revealing that he has received confirmation that two of [the kidnappers] have already been taken care of. When asked to elaborate on the fate of the purportedly captured men, the Swede says he hasnt inquired but has his suspicions.

I think that this is great, don't let the punk/terrorists get away with this stuff. My only question is how can the former hostage know all of the kidnappers. The bounty hunters would be incentivised to bring home bodies and there is no shortage of bad guys to hunt.. Will they be the ones that kidnapped him?

The ones who work for a living and who pull the wagon (they live southeast of Gothenburg) are the greatest people you ever want to meet. Most have served in the military, they work tirelessly, and have cheerful dispositions.

They also LOVE Americans, and are honest in their business dealings.

My source for this statement is the 10 years experience I have had dealing with them with significant sums of money.

I haven't been to Sweden, but I do suspect that its people have gotten a bad rap. I think there are a lot of honorable, courageous, rational Swedes, just as there are honorable, courageous, rational people in France, New England, even San Francisco. It's just that they seem to be a permanent minority in politics, which leads the government to act in a cowardly manner -- and to redefine society in such a way that cowardice is gradually imposed on an otherwise-good population.

The gradual destruction of Sweden (the Netherlands may be an equally good example) is an excellent topic for conservative scholars and commentators. It deserves far more attention, and the American people, more than a few of whom have Swedish ancestry, need to know more about it.

Sweden's neutrality in WW II is distressing and cannot be wished away. However, no other nation was subjected to the same test -- except Switzerland, which remained equally neutral yet has escaped trashing for it until recently. What about neutral Ireland, which was much farther away from the Reich?

Would Holland have remained neutral if it hadn't been attacked? Belgium? Denmark? Norway? Poland? Austria? Hungary? The United States?

Well, they did send Raoul Wallenberg as ambassador to Hungary to save tens of thousands of Jews. He was one of the most courageous and decent men who ever lived. Ended up dying in a Soviet prison for his trouble- sad world.

I guess that's more or less true. But again, no country was similarly tested. What resources did Switzerland have that the Nazis could use? And would the countries that the Nazis overran have fought him if he hadn't fought them?

Beside the point. Britain -- under Churchill -- would not have remained neutral in any case. But Norway, if not attacked? How do we know? And no country can fairly be blamed for not having a Churchill.

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